Wednesday, May 12. 2010Hosted Telephone Services........John Linton
The premise behind the old Telstra services was that you could have all the functionality of a high end/very expensive PABX without having to pony up mega dollars for the hardware but simply rent telephone handsets from Telstra that were connected (by PSTN or ISDN lines) to some super high end PABX in some Telstra office somewhere. No hardware on your own premises, no expensive PABX maintenance contracts and ideal for companies with multiple small offices - every line around Australia could make 'internal/no cost' calls to each other's handsets. To go further than that is to over tax my memory of a service I was only peripherally aware of some ten years ago. But that sums up the 'appeal' of hosted PABX services which are re-appearing today...a very early example of "cloud computing"? Is it a good idea? I wouldn't have thought so as I have never seen any problems with replacing an ISDN/PSTN PABX with a much simpler VoIP switch which has all the functionality of a high end PABX at a tenth of the price and has the added advantage of allowing data base integration with all the huge amount of additional functionality that brings - we literally couldn't operate Exetel today without those dozens of additional automated functions. However I am absolutely not a typical person in terms of looking at technology solutions for a company and the more typical person is apparently reluctant to take the views I hold. So we 'decided' yesterday to explore two options for our own customers who wanted to take a very cautious approach to using VoIP within their company. We will 'slice off' a sub set of our own VoIP functionalities and offer a 'hosted' VoIP solution to companies that want the cost advantages of VoIP call costs plus the functionality of a high end PABX with no 'exposure' to the failure of VoIP hardware and Ethernet data links. This is easily and simply accomplished by the customer buying some Cisco handsets which they plug into their LAN and making and receiving calls over those hand sets. They leave their current PABX/Keystation and current handsets in place (and keep paying for their PSTN/ISDN lines until they are satisfied that VoIP really is reliable and and data links are as reliable as telephone lines and there is no need to incur the expenses of renting lines any more. If I think back 4 - 5 years when we were deciding to replace our 'traditional' PABX and phone lines with VoIP this cautious approach might well have appealed to me. This approach allows an IT manager to buy a single handset to test the functionality and demonstrate the call quality to other people within the company without disturbing any current user....and then add additional users in any time frame required. It allows, via MoIP, for any mobile user to become part of the company telephone network from anywhere in Australia and any home based employees to do the same. Maybe this is THE way of breaking through the reluctance of Australian companies to use VoIP? Copyright © Exetel Pty Ltd 2010 Trackbacks
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The problem I've mostly seen is a reluctance to surrender phone numbers, If the main number isn't a 13/18 or another company owns the number range. It's far easier if the company owns the number range and can transfer to you.
Comment (1)
These days you can port any PSTN/ISDN number to a VoIP number.
Comments (4)
As a small business owner who relies on the phone extensively for business, VoIP holds significant advantages in cost savings and enhanced functionality. Currently we are using VoIP with an Asterisk server that is managed in house.
But, whilst this setup provides benefit to us, it is also a distraction to the business. We are not a technology business and the time we spend on managing technology is time we don't spend making money. Taking full advantage of the benefits of VoIP needs a reasonable amount of expertise, which takes time and effort to develop but doesn't add to our business. Maintaining that expertise is also difficult as we don't constantly maintain or play with our setup - so when something does need changing we need to learn how to do it all over again. A hosted VoIP pabx would be an ideal solution for us - all of the cost benefits without the non-core-business distractions. But it needs to be more than just a phone system. The thing that attracted us to Asterisk was the ability to integrate the phone into our business activities. Things like being able to click to dial numbers from any web page (including our hosted CRM) using a simple Firefox add-on like Noojee, intelligent call routing, and using Bluetooth proximity sensing to automatically divert desk phones to mobiles are the icing on the cake that provide the real value by enhancing how we work. So, in considering the type of hosted pabx service to provide, I would encourage you to think outside the box to provide value add solutions that do more than just replace the perfectly functional telephone handset that most businesses already have. Comment (1)
I completely agree - the advantages of VoIP are what Asterisk allows you to deploy.
However - and it's a big 'however' - implementing and supporting Asterisk is a professional services scenario - not a VoIP scenario. Comments (4)
Can I issue one word of warning. The problem with VoIP is no longer in the day to day but in the once every year or two. The days of delay or calls breaking up are long gone. However in my couple of years experience as a user of a business VoIP system, on average so far once a year we loose our VoIP for a whole day. Once it was a failed router. Another time it was a backhoe operator. My personal impression is these kinds of failures happen more often to VoIP than to PSTN / PABX.
This is not a reason to ignore VOIP. It has many advantages. But businesses using VOIP ought to know the risks and the difference in service guarantees. This may be even more relevant for "Hosted VoIP" services. Comments (2)
I agree Paul - but a hosted service has one advantage over any other service.
Each mobile owned by each employee can be set up as a part of the telephone service. So in the event that the line is cut any mobile can be used. SLA's are useless in terms of line cuts - doesn't matter whether its data or voice. Servers? God help the person who sets up a mission critical service that doesn't have auto fail over. Comments (4)
Part of the problem is I suspect the risks I'm thinking of aren't known to businesses, nor most people for that matter. You are probably in the best position to identify those risks. No doubt as a responsible provider interested in his customers, you'd outline those risks to potential customers.
The risks are quite easily mitigated either by the business or by the provider. Mobiles are an obvious mitigation. Who is responsible for which mitigating actions in a failure is where an SLA helps. The cable won't be repaired any faster but at least those calls to sales are still being handled! Comments (2)
I've been an Asterisk installer in the past for both small (2 lines/3 phones) and large (20 lines, 85 phones) businesses and all in between. To this day, I've had numberous support calls and complaints about the systems, however never once was the problem linked to asterisk. Without fail it was either backhaul IP causing lack of quality, or cheap-ass phones.
Businesses often don't realise the cost of their PBAX, as its on a 4 year rental/lease. With the old systems, like the NECs or Panasonics, they used to charge $250-$400 for the phones. I don't care how good the VoIP system or internet connection is, if you purchase a $85 VoIP phone from o/s, it will look and feel plastic-y, and it will sound tinny, and there will be echos and all sorts. VoIP will not replace good quality speakers and microphones. Similarly, you can't expect a 2M/2M link to support 20 lines if you also want to hang your Exchange server off it! That said, the functions and flexibility of Asterisk are second to none. It is possble to get a good office system going with TrixBox on a $400 desktop PC without any hassles in an hour, with all the functionality. Just don't complain when the power supply burns out quickly!!! JL, I would suggest a lot of potential to be had with managed VoIP PBX - companies such as Australian Technology Partnerships (who were the original holders of the Digium import permits and Austel A-Tick certificates) have been doing it for ages. With your experts, you'll be able to have a web-managed PBX and offer X lines + X phones + X IVR options for X/month quite quickly. I don't think it belongs to a a professional services company rather than a VoIP company. Exetel is an electronic communications company, and in that sense, is perfectly placed. Just don't sell $85 hardware handsets! Comment (1)
We looked at Hosted PBX when our business went VoIP.
We decided against a Hosted PBX because we were locked into using their trunks. One of the biggest benefit for us is least call cost routing. International Calls go out through carrier A and Mobiles through carrier B. Comments (2)
Yes.
Exetel are one of our backup providers, should our primary provider fail. Comments (2)
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